"Down Terrace" is a very small film, intimate, and yet it has an ending that feels positively cataclysmic. It's a very strong directorial effort for Wheatley, primarily known for British TV comedy before now, and it has absolutely put him and Robin Hill on my radar for whatever they do in the future. When Magnet releases it later this year, pay attention. It's something else.
Read the whole thing here
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Festival Screenings: February
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Friday, 18 December 2009
Slamdance 2010
Down Terrace has been selected to screen at this years SLAMDANCE - the screening takes place in Park City, Utah on Jan 22nd as part of the Special Screenings slate. Variety report it here.
Monday, 7 December 2009
DT wins a BIFA!
Down Terrace won the Raindance Award at last night's British Independent Film Awards giving director Ben Wheatley the opportunity to swear in front of Michael Caine (sir), DD Lewis & the assembled throng of the UK movie great and good. Other notable winners we like include Moon, Let The Right One In & Bronson.
Big thanks to all concerned!
All the lowdown here.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Empire Online - Review
A sinister Darwinism operates within Ben Wheatley's Down Terrace, a darkly hilarious reclamation of the British crime genre from those opprobrious peddlers of mockney muppetry. Wheatley made his name on such small-screen series as Time Trumpet, The Wrong Door and Ideal, but this kitchen sink variation on the family firm formula announces his arrival on the cinema scene.
Father and son small-timers Robert and Robin Hill have just been released from jail after being nabbed for an unspecified crime. Convinced that one of their associates shopped them, they greet each visitor to their Brighton terrace with jaundiced civility. Club manager Tony Way gets suckered into buying some booze before being dragged away by his possessive wife, while Irish hitman Michael Smiley is similarly distracted by domestic responsibilities, as he has to get his toddler son home. Only fixer uncle David Schaal lingers to celebrate the Hills' release, with corrupt councillor Mark Kempner dropping in to apologise for being unable to pull any strings with the local constabulary. However, Hill, Jr's desire for vengeance is deflected when ex-girlfriend Kerry Peacock announces she's pregnant with his baby and he decides the time has come to settle down, much to the dismay of his disapproving mother, Julia Deakin.
Eventually, the family decides that Way is the culprit, only for him to lock himself in the bathroom to evade Smiley's botched retribution. The problem is solved next morning, however, and the first of several corpses is wrapped in polythene sheeting and parcel tape and deposited in the Sussex countryside. But where is the slaying going to stop?
Deadpan is the watchword for this seaside homage to The Sopranos, with the slapstick insouciance of the assassinations only enhancing its bleak appeal. Robert Hill and Julia Deakin seethe their contempt for their minions like a couple of backstreet Macbeths, while Robin Hill (who also co-scripted) veers between brattish tantrums and clumsy romantic gestures that disguise his darker purpose. Surreal and sinister, this is a splendid exercise in anti-social realism that deserves to reach a wider audience.
David Parkinson
Father and son small-timers Robert and Robin Hill have just been released from jail after being nabbed for an unspecified crime. Convinced that one of their associates shopped them, they greet each visitor to their Brighton terrace with jaundiced civility. Club manager Tony Way gets suckered into buying some booze before being dragged away by his possessive wife, while Irish hitman Michael Smiley is similarly distracted by domestic responsibilities, as he has to get his toddler son home. Only fixer uncle David Schaal lingers to celebrate the Hills' release, with corrupt councillor Mark Kempner dropping in to apologise for being unable to pull any strings with the local constabulary. However, Hill, Jr's desire for vengeance is deflected when ex-girlfriend Kerry Peacock announces she's pregnant with his baby and he decides the time has come to settle down, much to the dismay of his disapproving mother, Julia Deakin.
Eventually, the family decides that Way is the culprit, only for him to lock himself in the bathroom to evade Smiley's botched retribution. The problem is solved next morning, however, and the first of several corpses is wrapped in polythene sheeting and parcel tape and deposited in the Sussex countryside. But where is the slaying going to stop?
Deadpan is the watchword for this seaside homage to The Sopranos, with the slapstick insouciance of the assassinations only enhancing its bleak appeal. Robert Hill and Julia Deakin seethe their contempt for their minions like a couple of backstreet Macbeths, while Robin Hill (who also co-scripted) veers between brattish tantrums and clumsy romantic gestures that disguise his darker purpose. Surreal and sinister, this is a splendid exercise in anti-social realism that deserves to reach a wider audience.
David Parkinson
Monday, 2 November 2009
Down Terrace - hometown screening - Cinecity 09
Down Terrace has been selected to screen at this years Cinecity - The Brighton Film Festival. The screening takes place late night Friday 27th November - 11.15pm at The Duke of Yorks Cinema. All the details here. There's a great line up of films at this year's festival including A Prophet, The Road & Dogtooth. Get yourself down there!
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